Jackie Brown
Jackie Brown is a 1997 crime thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Pam Grier in the title role. Summary In 1995, Jackie Brown, a middle-aged flight attendant for a small Mexican airline, makes ends meet smuggling money from Mexico into the United States for Ordell Robbie, a black-market gun runner living in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Ordell is under close watch by the ATF, forcing him to use couriers. When he learns that another of his couriers, Beaumont Livingston, has been arrested, he assumes Livingston will become an informant in order to avoid jail time. Ordell arranges for bail with bondsman Max Cherry, then coaxes Livingston into a car trunk and murders him. Acting on information Livingston had already shared, ATF agent Ray Nicolette and LAPD detective Mark Dargus intercept Jackie as she returns to the United States with Ordell's cash and some cocaine that Brown was unaware was stashed in her bag. Initially refusing to cut a deal, she is sent to jail which alerts Ordell that she might also be a threat to inform. Having received payment from Ordell, Max picks up Jackie from the jail and begins to develop an attraction to her. Ordell arrives at Jackie's house intending to murder her but she surprises him by pulling a gun surreptitiously taken from the glove compartment of Max's car. Jackie negotiates a deal with Ordell to pretend to help the authorities while smuggling in $550,000 of Ordell's money, enough to allow him to retire. To carry out this plan, Ordell is counting on Melanie Ralston, an unambitious, pot-smoking surfer girl with whom he lives, and Louis Gara, a friend and former cellmate. Unaware of Jackie and Ordell's plan to smuggle in $550,000, Nicolette and Dargus devise a sting to catch Ordell during a transfer of $50,000. Unbeknownst to all, Jackie plans to double-cross everyone and keep $500,000 for herself. She recruits Max to assist with her plan and offers him a cut. In the Del Amo Mall on the day of the transfer, Jackie enters a dressing room to try on a new suit. She has told Ordell that she will swap bags there with Melanie, supposedly passing off the $550,000 under the nose of Nicolette, who has been told that the exchange is to take place in the food court. Instead, the bag she gives Melanie contains only $50,000 and she leaves the rest behind in the dressing room for Max to pick up. Jackie then feigns despair as she calls Nicolette and Dargus out from hiding, claiming Melanie took all the money and ran. In the parking lot, Melanie mocks Louis until he loses his temper and shoots and kills her. Louis confesses this to Ordell. Ordell is livid when he discovers that most of the money is gone, and he realizes that Jackie is to blame. When Louis mentions that during the hand-off he saw Max Cherry in the store's dress department and thought nothing of it, Ordell kills Louis and leaves with the bag. Ordell turns his anger toward Max, who informs him that Jackie is frightened for her life and is waiting in Max's office to hand over the money. A menacing Ordell holds Max at gunpoint as they enter the darkened office. When Jackie yells that Ordell has a gun, Nicolette jumps from a hiding place and kills him. With the ATF dropping charges for her cooperation, Jackie takes the remainder of Ordell's money and his car. She decides to leave the country and travel to Madrid, Spain. She invites Max to go along with her, but he declines. Jackie shares a meaningful moment with Max, kisses him goodbye, and leaves as Max takes a phone call. Moments later, Max cuts the call short and contemplates his decision to stay behind as Jackie drives away. Cast * Pam Grier as Jackie Brown * Samuel L. Jackson as Ordell Robbie * Robert Forster as Max Cherry * Bridget Fonda as Melanie Ralston * Michael Keaton as Ray Nicolette * Robert De Niro as Louis Gara * Chris Tucker as Beaumont Livingston * Michael Bowen as Mark Dargus * Lisa Gay Hamilton as Sheronda * Tommy Lister Jr. as Winston * Hattie Winston as Simone * Sid Haig as Judge Trivia * Samuel L. Jackson named this as his favorite Quentin Tarantino film. * Pam Grier had screentested for the part in Pulp Fiction (1994), that eventually went to Rosanna Arquette. Quentin Tarantino didn't forget her however, crafting the part of Jackie Brown for her. * The only film that Tarantino has adapted from a previous work. * The money that's shown in the bag is genuine currency. * The white 1980 Honda Civic which Jackie drives, is the same car Butch was driving when he knocked down Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994). * Samuel L. Jackson shot his scenes on weekends. * When Robert De Niro first got ahold of the script, he wanted to play the role of Max Cherry. * Robert De Niro and Quentin Tarantino reportedly did not get along on-set. * It was Samuel L. Jackson's idea to give his character the long hair and the braided goatee. * Takes place during the summer of 1995. * Pam Grier didn't expect her longtime friend Sid Haig to play the judge. She started to burst out laughing, as she was surprised by Haig. * In the novel, Jackie Brown (originally Jackie Burke) is white. * Spike Lee publicly criticized Tarantino for the frequent use of the n-word in the film. * The "n" word is said thirty-eight times throughout the film.